i think it's important to recognize that uraniborque isn't this sort of very modern scientific research institute. It is also a castle to the muse urania and that's that's kind of reinforced by these these emblematic iconography. melvin bragg: Was he known around the place in europe in his lifetime as this tremendously influential astronomer so yes and no i think um that he was known amongst the community of scholars but my sense is that that he wasn't as well known as he might have been had he published uh his findings in a more timely fashion than he did.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pioneering Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601) whose charts offered an unprecedented level of accuracy.
In 1572 Brahe's observations of a new star challenged the idea, inherited from Aristotle, that the heavens were unchanging. He went on to create his own observatory complex on the Danish island of Hven, and there, working before the invention of the telescope, he developed innovative instruments and gathered a team of assistants, taking a highly systematic approach to observation. A second, smaller source of renown was his metal prosthetic nose, which he needed after a serious injury sustained in a duel.
The image above shows Brahe aged 40, from the Atlas Major by Johann Blaeu.
With
Ole Grell
Emeritus Professor in Early Modern History at the Open University
Adam Mosley
Associate Professor of History at Swansea University
and
Emma Perkins
Affiliate Scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.